Use of various electronic devices has increased substantially in recent years. For example, use of laptops, mobile telephones, Blackberrys, pagers, IPods, IPhone, etc. have become common in public places such as coffee shops, restaurants, college campuses, businesses, etc.
In general, most electronic devices are capable of rendering graphical content. Accordingly, most electronic devices are equipped with chips that display graphical content, e.g., graphical processing unit (GPU), application processor chips, etc. GPUs, application processor chips, etc. generally employ at least one digital to analog converter (DAC) to drive pixel data to a load, e.g., video receiver, television, display, etc. For example, a DAC in a camcorder may be used to drive the signal to a television set.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional DAC 110 coupled to a receiver 120 is shown. DAC 110 may be a DAC that belongs to a handheld electronic device, e.g., a camcorder. It is appreciated that the receiver may be any load that may be coupled to the DAC 110. For example, the receiver 120 may be a television set, a display, etc. Various standards may be employed by DACs. For example, one standard is a composite standard that uses one DAC coupled to the receiver 120. Another standard is an S-video standard that uses two DACs coupled to the receiver 120. Finally, a VGA standard may be used that uses three DACs coupled to the receiver 120.
Unfortunately, DACs consume a considerable amount of power. As a result, in order to conserve power, it is desirable to turn off the clock to the DAC 110 when the DAC 110 is not coupled to the load, e.g., receiver 120.
Unfortunately, detection of load disconnection, e.g., receiver 120, is complicated to automate because the DAC 110 is generally controlled by the content, e.g., video content. Since load detection is manual, without user interaction the DAC keeps operating and consuming power even after it is disconnected from the load. For example, a DAC within a camcorder continues its operation and consumption of power even after it is disconnected from a television set. As a result, the manual process is not only tedious by requiring user interaction but it is power inefficient because without manual intervention by the user the DAC keep consuming power even though the load may no longer be connected.